Technology of recognizing white lines (lane boundary lines) using, for example, a camera mounted on a vehicle to determine a lane in which a subject vehicle is traveling, and applying the results of recognition to a lane departure warning system (LDWS) or a lane keeping assist system (LKAS) has been reported. Such a lane departure warning system or a lane keeping assist system is highly useful as a system to reduce a driving burden on a driver. In an application to a car navigation system, route guidance can be achieved for each lane by detecting one of a plurality of lanes in which the subject vehicle is traveling.
These systems operate very effectively when the white lines can clearly be recognized, but cannot provide sufficient functionality to the driver when the white lines cannot be recognized due to blurring and the like caused depending on weather conditions or by aging of the white lines.
To address the above-mentioned problem, disclosed is technology of detecting, on the assumption that a road has a side wall, the distance from the subject vehicle to the side wall using a laser radar, and detecting a position of a lane in which the subject vehicle exists or an obstacle ahead of the subject vehicle to avoid the obstacle while estimating the position of the subject vehicle in the lane (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Also disclosed is technology of detecting a traveling-prohibited region including, for example, a guard rail, a fence, a side wall, a curbstone, a walker, a bicycle, and another vehicle using a surrounding environment detection apparatus installed in a vehicle, and acquiring reliability of results of detection by the surrounding environment detection apparatus based on discontinuity of the traveling-prohibited region to determine a traveling route (see, for example, Patent Document 2).